


In a (red) Flash

by CaptainJimothyCarter



Series: Tumblr Prompt Fics [64]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The First Avenger, F/M, Ficlet, Prompt Fic, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 22:55:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28821057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainJimothyCarter/pseuds/CaptainJimothyCarter
Summary: Steve accidentally touches something red while he visits Peggy's grave and finds he gets everything he's always wanted.
Relationships: Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers
Series: Tumblr Prompt Fics [64]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952281
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	In a (red) Flash

Of all places, this wasn’t where he wanted to be. It was quiet in here, set outside of the worst of the city. It sat on a few hills, offering a pretty view of some sparkling water a distance away, the sounds of the wind blowing around him. While he didn’t  _ want  _ to be here, he had to be here. Steve left himself no choice.

He’s only been awake in this century for a few weeks now, a few months. He’s done a few missions for SHIELD here and there, a few diplomated things, a few smiles and sign some papers, an autograph here or two, everything reminding him of his SOE days. A dancing monkey.

While he didn’t want to be Captain America right now, SHIELD left him no choice. Fury’s words basically said that. That was fine to Steve, almost, he didn’t want to work, but he also didn’t want to think, and in order not to think he had to pretend to be busy. That was better than sitting here in a reminder that all your friends and your life you knew beforehand were dead.

This is the cemetery where the Howling Commandos was buried, where his ma was buried, Bucky’s ma, father, baby sister, where even Howard and his wife, and yes, Peggy was buried. Weirdly enough he’s crossed over his own grave once, seeing his own name, date of birth, and death date etched into the marble set a bone chill about him. He didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to think about Bucky’s grave either. Or Jim’s or Jones or Dugan’s or...anybody.

Hell, he didn’t want to think about Peggy’s, but here he was. He knelt in front of it and tenderly brushed off a few clumps of grass that had been grown on it from the lawn care crew. His fingers traced over her name with a soft sigh.

_ Loving mother, aunt, grandmother. Doing what no one else would. _

“I loved you,” Steve breathed, closing his eyes and pressing his forehead into the stone. “I’m sorry, Peggy. Sorry I couldn’t give you that dance. Sorry I-I failed you. I wish I could take it all back...to be with you. I’d give anything to...to be with you. I don’t regret...anything, only that I lost you.”

His throat tightened at the need to cry, more than familiar with locking the pain away for a rainy day. As he pulled back, a glittering red in the grass beside the headstone caught his attention. It looked almost like a diamond, but who would lose a diamond out here?

Steve frowned as he reached down to pick it up, his world turning black around him.

_ “What happened?” _

_ “What do you mean what happened? It worked.” _

_ “He’s still small!” _

_ “We don’t know what the serum would do or not do.” _

_ “So it failed.” _

_ “It did…” _

The voices faded to the background as the door closed with a sharp snap. Peggy stood in front of the door, hands behind her back. She looked nervously up at Steve, biting her lip. Her eyes flickered over Steve’s form before breathing a sigh of relief. 

“I’m sorry about those two - Erksine and Colonel Phillips have never-”

Peggy jerked back as Steve instantly hopped off of the table and hugged her tightly around the middle. His head came just to her chest, breathing her comforting, floral scent in.

_ “Peggy!”  _

The tears burned his eyes but the shock of her jerking away and holding him at arms’ length, eyes nervously glancing at the windows around them to see if anyone saw them. “Steven, what in the world has gotten into you? Are you okay?”

Hang on - she was able to move him? Since when? And why was she here? Why were Phillips and Erksine arguing over him? Wasn’t Erksine…

Steve jerked away like he’d been burned, stumbling over his own two feet. He retreated to a mirror to look at himself, patting himself down in the uniform. His uniform. His face. His height.

He was smaller. Yet, the procedure, Project Rebirth, he was still small. Did that mean it failed? That he wasn’t a super soldier? Small and yet...he could  _ breathe,  _ he could taste the dust in the air, her floral scent didn’t send him coughing, he could see  _ color.  _ What happened?

And he’d just hugged Peggy in the middle of an SSR medical room, where thankfully people bustling around outside, and the two arguing next door hadn’t paid much attention. He turned back to see Peggy looking at him with a worried expression. 

“Steven, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. I know this isn’t what you expected, but you heard Erksine, you’re healthy!”

“No, no, Pegs…” Steve sat down heavily onto the medical bench and flinched at how cold it was. He ignored the pinched brow look she gave him. He wasn’t helping his case here. How could he? He couldn’t understand it himself. He didn’t know what was going on. The last thing he remembered was touching the stone…

And now he was here, younger, smaller, and the serum hadn’t worked. He said he’d give anything to have a life with her...this was anything, wasn’t it? The serum. To be healthy, but to be with her. 

“Peggy,” Steve tried again, clearing his throat. “I have something I-I need to tell you, something you won’t believe, but it...it has to be…” He looked around the empty room, not trusting their surroundings. 

Clearly, Peggy caught on because she nodded. “Elsewhere, yes, I see.” She pursed her red lips, her hand reaching out to ghost over the back of Steve’s before fixing his suit jacket. “I can get us somewhere that isn’t so...busy, but we can’t be seen touching like that again, do you understand?”

It was clear by her body language how she wanted him (he could once remember her (drunkenly) saying how she was ready to jump his bones), so he understood. His head jerked. “Of course, ma’am. That was an overlap in my judgment. It-it’s been so long since I’ve last seen you...you-”

He stopped himself, his throat tightening up and squeezing his eyes shut to stop the tears. He didn’t need to look at Peggy’s face to see how confused she was.

“You just saw me half an hour ago, Steven, what-”

“I’ll explain later, can you get us out of here?”

* * *

Somewhere safe was the hotel room Peggy was renting, it seems. She had snuck Steve out in the chaos, only making mention to Erksine and Phillips that they were stepping out for some fresh air. No one needed to know where they went. Far as Steve was concerned, he was officially sacked. The serum had failed to make him a super soldier, he wouldn’t get to be a dancing puppet, wouldn’t get to rescue Bucky… oh fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

By the time they’d reached the hotel room, Steve was defiantly panicking. It felt odd to be in this small body and not be thrown immediately into an asthma attack. He started to pace the room by the time Peggy closed the door, hands continuously running through his hair. He only stopped when Peggy was forced to grab him by the shoulders and sit him on the bed.

“Talk to me,” she said in a firm tone, driving him out of his spirling thoughts. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m not Steve.”

No, no that was the wrong thing to say. She jerked back and frowned at him, her hand at the ready to go for her gun.

“No, I-” Steve groaned and gripped at his hair. “I am Steve! Steve Rogers, just not the Steve Rogers you know! Just...I am…” He stood up this time to start pacing again. If he didn’t, he was feeling antsy. He couldn’t sit still.

“I am a-a Steve Rogers...the Steve Rogers… I just…” He looked back at her, hands flopping to his side. “This is going to sound insane, but you  _ have  _ to believe me.”

“Okay,” Peggy breathed, sounding on the side of cautious. “I don’t...necessarily have any other choice right now besides calling Erksine to check that head of yours.”

“No, Peggy.” Steve took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. Panicking will get him nowhere. “I’m Steve Rogers. In another...I-I don’t know...Timeline or something, the serum worked. It worked and I-I was big and strong and everything Erksine desired. He was killed because it worked by Hydra. We caught the-the man but he used a cyanide pill to kill himself, found out he tried to steal the serum too. Phillips sent you to the front lines because of it.”

Now she was on the edge of the bed, hands gripping the sheet. Her face was schooled in a manner that told Steve she was between believing him and shooting him right then and there. “How do you know about Hydra?”

“I just told you!” He flinched as he shouted, giving an apologetic look. “I...the-the agent. He was up in the...he was sitting with ya’ll up there.” He waved his hand, growing more frustrated with himself by the second.

“Right...beside me.” Her lips pursed in thought, eyes on the floor. “Phillips said one of the men was arrested shortly after...you came out. I wasn’t told about what or how before he started on Erksine. Okay, let’s say I believed you...where did he send you? The serum worked, right? You must’ve been sent somewhere important.”

“I wasn’t...I was…” The blonde’s shoulders slumped and the story spilled out how he became a dancing monkey for war bonds. He appreciated how she flinched at that, how it was clear she was enraged at the idea too. 

“Bloody Nora, Steven, you...deserved better than that.” Her nose wrinkled in disgust and Steve couldn’t help the smirk forming. She was starting to believe him. “What happened, then?”

“You did.”

Peggy blinked slowly, sitting up fully. “I don’t understand. I did?”

Steve chose to sit down this time, his body still tingling and aching lightly from the serum. His hands collapsed in front of him, shoulders hunched. “You told me I deserved more than this. I deserved more than being some dancing monkey. You gave me a way out, you helped me get my way out, even if it was dangerous and stupid, and put you and Howard Stark’s life at risk.”

“You know Stark?” She shook her head, the question not important. “What did...I do?”

“Personally, yes.” The last question drew a sigh from him. “You helped me rescue the 107th. Bucky and...a group of lads that become our closest friends.”

It grew more complicated from there, from Steve spilling out every last detail he remembered. From rescuing Bucky to Red Skull to Zola, the Howling Commandos forming, Phillips’ downright praises at times, from the various missions, and yes, even them growing closer together. He explained it all as he could remember. To how they grew close as a couple and even shared a few kisses (his ears burned at that idea) and Peggy gasped, unable to help herself. 

To Bucky dying.

To...him dying.

To wake up in a new future, 70 years from now to a hell hole where everyone knew he existed, but he knew no one.

“I died?” Peggy asked, swallowing. She leaned closer, they were separated by just mere centimeters at this point. He could feel her breath ghosting over his lips. “I...died.”

“In your sleep, yes, of old age, or so I was told.” Steve was the one to lean back, working the rest of the way out of his shirts until he was in the undershirt. Peggy had long undone her tie and suit jacket. “Do you believe me?”

“I’m afraid I have no choice but to. None of this has happened yet, but all of it...you sound so sure, to where it all can happen. And we have to prevent most of this, from Schmidt to your friends dying. To you ever stepping onto a bloody plane.”

Steve snorted, unable to help himself. He could kiss her from the relief that filled him. He did. He kissed her softly on the lips, the shock washing over both of them. She took him by the shoulders and pulled them closer until he was kneeling beside her.

Peggy’s smile was warmer as she pulled away, using her thumb to wipe away the lipstick. 

“How scared of heights are you?” She asked, checking her watch with a frown. At his questioning look, she said, “I have an idea. It’s going to require Stark’s help but he’s been requesting a test pilot for weeks now. I think we just found him one.”

She gestured to their clothes and Steve hurriedly dressed, making sure the last of the lipstick was wiped from his lips. “Where are we going?” he asked, pulling his jacket closed.

He forgot (and missed) how hurriedly she walked, quickly taking two steps to her everyone. “We’re going to meet with Phillips to discuss the possibility of you becoming Stark’s new test pilot and use your knowledge to change the world.”


End file.
